we spent greg cergol back to one neighborhood to see what is being done to heal the child's community. >> reporter: hempstead village's mayor told me today he is confident an arrest will come soon in the murder of dejah joyner. but folks here in hempstead say it will take a lot more to heal a community that has seen plenty of violence. as shoot:00 victim dejah joyner was being laid to rest friday, harrison begged us to keep the focus on violence in this village of 54,000. >> something needs to be done. so hopefully you guys will not just be here today and go away. >> reporter: today we return, seeking answers to the question what is being done to prevent another 12-year-old from being killed by straight gunfire inside her own house. >> i think things will change. >> reporter: hempstead village's mayor says obviously police paroles have been increased. in addition, 80 new street surveillance cameras will soon be operational. >> they're being put up all throughout the village. especially in the spots that we know are hot. >> reporter: hempstead already utilizes a shot spotter system des

news 4's greg cergol is live with more, greg. >> reporter: and shiba, police and prosecutors just wrapped up a news conference a short time ago here. that bail amount that you referenced, $10 million cash, very unusual, very high, even in a case like this, but police and prosecutors insist they believe 26-year-old man did beat this toddler to death over the weekend on sunday. the toddler, identified as 17 month old mason robinson. now robinson is said to be the child of his girlfriend. police say she left the toddler with the man when she went to work on sunday. according to police, pardo had been watching the toddler about six to eight times over the last w months, and he himself is the fathereo ff a three week old daughter. now, as i said, the news conference that wrapped up a short time ago didn't specify exactly why pardo may have attacked the child. pardo himself has no criminal record, and police say there's no record of any domestic cidents involving he and his girlfriend. pard 's lawyer told reporters this is simple a tragic accident. he believes the child fell off a bed, causing

news 4's long island reporter, greg cergol, live in beth page with preparations. greg? >> reporter: dave this warehouse behind me the place where nassau county has been mobilizing equipment and supplies for joaquin and everyone is hoping that rescue vehicles like this one won't be needed over the next couple of days but officials say hoping for the best and preparing for the storm are two very different things. in a county ravaged nearly three years ago by sandy, nassau county officials are delivering a simple message about joaquin. >> be prepared. get ready it could happen. >> reporter: the county executive says your preparation should include a so-called go kit, a radio, flashlight, battery, water, food and medical supplies. and be prepared to evacuate, if asked. >> posthurricane sandy, those that may not have headed the warns and evacuations will be and move out of those areas. >> reporter: new rescue vehicles like this are being rolled out for joaquin. vehicles that will allow first responders to plow through high water to get to stranded residents. in fact, all loc

greg cergol has the story. >> reporter: four games into its ason and hewlett high school's football team made a dramatic change. it wasn't to the playbook. the team changed its brand of helmet converting to one of the safest on the market. >> we know there's a lot of attention to concussions. we want to make sure our students had the very be. reporter: the superintendent reversed field after seeing research hat his district's old helmets weren't as safe and ordered 125 new ones carrying a five-star safety rating from concussion researchers at virginia tshh university. >> it's the quality of the construction of the helmet and new technology and new materials. soy once we looked at the emerging research, that's something we wanted to have. >> reporter: very irginia tech has been rating football helmets since 2011 based on impact tests and those tests found the better e helmet, the less the chance of concussions. more than a year ago after a long island high school player ed from an on-field hit, news 4's i-team started studying high school helmet safety. some te.ms were using helmets that

greg cergol is in the doctor's hometown tonight with new details from police. greg? >> well, sibila, chuck, the nypd has yet to determine what happened to her, but law enforcement officers, multiple law enforcement sources confirm to us that she was not a murder victim. in fact, the apparent story of her last night is sure to raise eyebrows here in her hometown. no'st ettn a delivery man drew a response at the wront door of dr. kirsten's manhattan homes. neighbors were also tight lipped about tht 28eyear-old dermatologist, but this man urged us not to paint her in a bad light. >> now it's standing person. pvery vibrant, very alive. very dedicated mom. >> eporter: 20 miles away investigators in hazmat suits moved in and out of the apartment building where she was found early sunday morning. multiple law enforcement sources tell news 4 her death involved no foul play, but appears linked to drug use. the sources say the married mother of three was using cocaine at that chelsea apartment. she was there with a man described as her boyfriend and another man. according to t

news 4's greg cergol is in hauppauge, long island to explain. >> reporter: they told me just a short time ago that they will be changing their security procedures in the wake of a second escape by a hospital prisoners in a week. both were recaptured quickly but last night had some tricky moments. >> she's banged up. that's all i'm really going to say at this time. >> reporter: ironically, medical issues led suffolk police to st. katherine's hospital after her initial rest. she was handcuffed to a bedouin escaped when the officer left to use a rest room. hand. >> reporter: according to police, silsby jumped in an ambulette left running by the hospital. a car. no one was seriously hurt. >> did the officer who was watching her being disciplined at all because of what happened? >> no. it would be too soon to comment on that. we're still reviewing his actions. >> reporter: with two prisoner escapes at hospitals in a week, suffolk police tell news 4 they will shackle every hospital prison with handcuffs and leg irons. >> it was pointed out to us yesterday in a painful way she was able to d

news 4's greg surh cergol is there. >> reporter: they spent a half hour con soelg and holding the police officer's father, step-mom step-mom, and many other. they moved to new york from guyana and they're said to be well known in this community and the loss of this fun-loving officer is said to have touched many. tears flowed and emotions were raw both inside and outside the far rockaway home of officer holder. why was a question for which no one had an answer, not even officer holder's dad, a police officer in his native guyana like his father before him. his son, he said, had vowed to follow the same path when he emigrated to new york almost 12 years ago. >> he only wanted to be a policeman, and that he did. he delivered his duties diligently. >> reporter: so diligently he said officer holder was to be about to close on a new house in valley stream. >> this was his dream and where he was heading. >> reporter: she's been friends with him since high school in guyana. they were texting last night before he was shot. >> he did not run from service, he ran toward danger. >> reporter: all jo

we're in hempstead tonight, greg cergol news4 new york. >>> more on the partial building collapse today that killed one construction worker and trapped one before he was rescued. news4 investigates is at the scene with more on what he has uncovered. andrew? >> reporter: the city investigators do have some big questions at this hour about the coow -nstruction of a hotel in a $12 million building here on this midtown block. what they want to know is toads were workers simply trying to stabilize a shaky construction site or did they ignore the orders of the general contractors engineer who yesterday told them to stop. one trapped under a sharp pile of debris. and 4 investigates asked the buildings commissioner. >> have there been any violations at this location recently or before. >> but the city confirms that violation was fixed and contractors had full permits as they worked to convert 25 west 38th street into a boutique hotel. but yesterday the construction engineer for northeast interior demolition told worker to stop today just after 10:00 a.m. -- >> trauma right now, person possibly

news 4 greg cergol got that terview and is live with more. >> reporter: a bit of irony tonight. the rangers opening thtir season d a former player notorious for trash talking pulled no punches when we spoke to him re today about his recent tri p to a municipalco penalty box with

i'm greg cergol in hewlett. we will tell what they did coming up. >> those stories a more when see you a the 6:00. >>> us irways is in the final hours as an independent carrier. tomorrow it becomes part of american airlines. the final us airways flight will take off tonight. that redeye will leave san francisco at 9:55 pacific time and land it philadelphia at 6:18 local time tomorrow morning. all us airways signage should be gone at airports around the country bg tomorrow morning. >> if you use u.p.s. to ship packages, prepare to pay more after the holidays. they are raising ground shipping rates by 5% on december 28th. it's also boosting surcharges for fuel and heavy packages. u.p.s. says the hikes are necessary to cover rising labor an equipment costs. >>> and you could see faster deliveries this holiday season. walmart, amazon and other retailers are already working hind the scenes to speed up shipping. companies are building bigger warehouses, some the size of 20 football fields to handle the load and using

we're live in southampton tonight, greg cergol, news 4 new york. >>> updating breaking news we've been following. this was the scene an hour ago after that tanker truck and suv got into an accident that flipped that truck over a guard rail and caused it to explode. ws 4 ray villeda is live with more. >> reporter: traffic is at a standstill at this hour. we saw emergency responders were still rushing to get to that scene. you are looking at that traffic. that's southbound lanes and northbound lanes you can see are completely empty just a few cars were able to avoid that nightmare of a crash. let's go to the video now so you can see what i'm talking about. it happened around 3:15 this afternoon when a small suv and a tanker truck crashed. ite.aused a ball of fire that could be seen for miles. at this hour we know one of the drivers is unaccounted for. the driver of that tanker truck. the driver of that small suv is expected to be okay. you can see it is still such a mess. right now new jersey state police don't know what a box spring and mattress have to do with this crash. that's on the

greg cergol, nbc 4 news, new york. >>> they've been bringing candles and flowers to the east harlem police station. nesheldon dutes has more. >> reporter: in the last few minutes ministers have arrived outside the police presingts for prayer. they wanted to make sure that all of these officers who work here and that hold 'eers family >> reporter: black and purple bunting adorned the entrance of the police station where officer randolph holder worked here in east harlem. underneath the bunting michael parker tried to explain officer holder's death to his 5-year-old son. >> my son wants to be a police officer, so the best way i can tell him what happened, he wanted to go see it. he said he wanted to pay his respects. >> reporter: why do you want to be a police officer? that because i love police officers. >> reporter: they're embracing the officers that protect them day in and day out. mourners dropped off food and coffee. they lit candles and placed flowers outside of the police station to honor officer holder. >> we stand with the nypd and we always stand with them. we pray that god will a

greg cergol. >> hurricane joaquin is hitting the bahamas tonight. kerry sanders is in nassau with a look at the conditions there. >> reporter: just a few days ago in the bahamas nobody could say the name of this hurricane, they are calling it joaquin. it's a serious contender a category 4 hurricane with winds in excess of 130 miles per hour. as you look out here, it's a beautiful day. i'm in nassau. to understand the bahamas it's 100,000 square miles. 700 islands. 1,000 keys. what is affecting one area of the bahamas will not impact the other. the specific area looks like it's going to get the hardest that's down where they lost electricity. the real fear, however, is that storm surge. that's the water that comes within the storm because in most places when you think about evacuations people head inland from the eastern coast of the united states. but here on a small island when you evacuate you just go in a little bit. most people are heading to churches or to schools that are set up as evacuation centers. it's going brutal 24 to 36 hours. in nassa

for now we'ren baho,g y cergol, news 4 new york. >>llright, greg,athank you. hurricane joaquin may not be threatening the u.s. with a direct h , but things are only going to get worse in the bahamas. the category 3 storm is still churning over the islands as janice told us a few minutes o. and for americans who were looking to soak up some sun, s has run out there to get out. reporter: f theor visitors who wanted to leave nassau, there is now no way out. the airport shut down a few hours ago. officials worrie the high winds would make it too dangerous to fl gunding all flights in and out of the airport until at least tomorrow morning. canceled across the ard. hundreds of travelers are seeing d tonigh finding out they're stuck. it may take a while to get their lu e up in tho air and out of the bahama that includes the johnson family fr virginia. >> we'reig rying ind a hotel, so we can book down f the nit and book the first flight to our destition in the morning. >> reporter: many of the beaches over the past now hours. their furniture picked up, the windows boa

we're live in bayshore tonight, greg cergol. >> we're following breaking news from oregon where the state's attorney general said 13 people are dead in a shooting rampage. we're still waiting for police to release information about the gunman who opened fire. what we do know 20-year-old male shooter was dead. he was targeting students and faculty. >> the active shooter was engaged by law enforcement and later confirmed to be deceased. >> now the sheriff's department is preparing to release new information about the shooting at any moment and somewhere around 6:20 in nine minutes president obama is scheduled to make a statement about this tragedy. for much more on this story stay tuned to "nightly news" with lester holt immediately after this broadcast and of course we'll carry the president's statement. coming up as news 4 continues at 6:00 a harsh report is out blaming the nypd for failing to give its officers clear cut guidelines on what constitutes excessive force. >> we go staten island how hurricane sandy victims are >>> today the nypd unveiled a new use of force policy. the announceme

greg cergol, new york. >>> strangers as well feeling this pain today. many people have been stopping by the police precinct station house where officer holder was assigned to leave flowers and other memorial tributes. katherine craig joins us live with this sad reaction. >> reporter: and, david, they are sad. we've seen people weeping here and they're gathe ring over there trying to light the candles you se e there. also, they're trying to find the words to describe their grief. >> they took an oath to protect and serve our community, and they do a very good job at it. >> you get really emotional because they're just people. and tears welled up in their eyes. many from all around police harlem stopped by police area 5, the nypd station house officer holder worked out of. they left flowers, lit candles, brought food and coffee, and gave their condolences to those who work closely with officer holder. >> they have families, they're loved. they want to go home. >> reporter: officer holder was only 33 years old, a five-year veteran. he joined the force in j